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UNIV.  OF  CALIF.  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 


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LIBRARY  OF  ARCHITECTURE 

AND  Kami  Afiis 


Date  Due 

J 

L.  B.  Cat. 

No.  1137 

1 

r 


f^ 


PLAN 

OF 

EVANSTON 


PRINTED  BY 

BOWMAN  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

EVANSTON,  ILLINOIS 


ILLUSTRATIONS  BY  THE 
AMERICAN  COLORTYPE  COMPANY 


COPYRIGHT  1917  BY 

THE  EVANSTON  SMALL  PARKS  AND  PLAYGROUNDS 

ASSOCIATION 


VtbLv,  Fte.TRir^ 
Ubmg 


EVANSTON  SMALL  PARKS  AND  PLAYGROUNDS 

ASSOCIATION 

INCORPORATED  1909 


OFFICERS 


A.  D. 1916 


President 
Vice  President 
Vice  President 
Vice  President 
Vice  President 
Treasurer 
Secretary 


D.  H.  Burnham,  Jr. 
Dwight  H.  Perkins 
Mrs.  R.  B.  Ennis 
G.  M.  Butler 
John  E.  Wilder 
Wm.  A.  Dyche 
Mrs.  U.  S.  Grant 


DIRECTORS 


A.  D.  1916 


Mrs.  Wirt  E.  Humphrey 
J.  P.  Petrie 
Mrs.  H.  T.  Wilcoxson 
Mrs.  J.  P.  Singleton 
Thomas  E.  Tallmadge 
J.  J.  Kearney 
F.  H.  McCulloch 
William  S.  Mason 
Rev.  A.  S.  C.  Clarke 


C.  H.  Pendleton 
H.  W.  Carlisle 
J.  D.  Hunter 
M.  M.  Hawley 
Rev.  W.  T.  McElveen 
Louis  A.  Ferguson 
John  R.  Guilliams 
J.  C.  Harding 
Allan  J.  Carter 


4J  'Plan     of     Evanston 


The  Small  Parks  and  Playgrounds  Association  has  been  in 
existence  since  1909,  when  it  was  organized  to  manage  Mason 
Park,  the  gift  of  William  S.  Mason  to  the  people  of  Evanston. 
In  1914  it  relinquished  this  control  to  the  City  Council,  in 
order,  as  was  admirably  stated  by  the  then  president,  Mr. 
James  P.  Petrie,  that  the  City  of  Evanston  might  be  developed 
as  a  single  unit  in  compliance  with  a  comprehensive  city  plan. 

The  Association's  activities  during  the  past  two  years  have 
comprised  the  persuasion  of  the  City  Council  to  adopt  a 
three-mill  tax  for  park  purposes — ratified  at  the  last  election — 
and  in  securing  from  the  State  Legislature  the  passage  of  a 
law  permitting  Park  Boards  to  disband.  The  passage  of  this 
law  in  1915  makes  possible  the  consolidation  of  the  control  of 
all  Evanston's  parks.  Another  activity  of  the  Association 
was  the  adoption  of  a  fifty  thousand  dollar  bond  issue  for 
building  breakwaters  to  protect  the  shore  line  and  for  sand 
beaches. 

As  a  logical  development  of  these  activities,  the  president 
of  the  Association  was  authorized  in  1916  to  appoint  a  City 
Plan  Committee  and  to  solicit  funds  for  carrying  on  the  work 
of  having  plans  and  a  report  prepared. 

A  fund  of  several  hundred  dollars  was  subscribed  by  the 
public  spirited  citizens  whose  names  are  printed  herewith. 
The  owners  of  the  Hoyburn  Building  generously  gave  us  the 
use  of  quarters,  which  were  furnished  without  expense  by 
members  of  this  committee.  The  money  has  been  used  for 
hiring  draftsmen  and  paying  for  the  necessary  supplies.  The 
committee  has  met  weekly  during  a  number  of  months,  and 
individual  members  of  the  committee  have  done  much  work 
outside.  It  has  enjoyed  the  hearty  co-operation  of  Mayor 
H.  P.  Pearsons  and  the  Park  Committee  of  the  City  Council, 
Messrs.  Sherman  Kingsley,  Wirt  E.  Humphrey  and  Edwin 
Sherman,  of  Mr.  George  C.  Cone,  the  park  superintendent, 
and  Mr.  William  A.  Dyche  of  Northwestern  University  has 
generously  helped  with  his  advice  and  encouragement. 


THE  PLAN  COMMITTEE 

ARCHITECTS 

D.  H.  Burnham,  Jr.,  Chairman 
Dwight  H.  Perkins 
Thomas  E.  Tallmadge 
Hubert  Burnham 

EDITOR 

Henry  Kitchell  Webster 

THE  DRAWINGS  IN  THIS  BOOK  WERE  MADE  WITH  FEW  EXCEPTIONS  BY 

WARREN  HAMILTON  UNDER  THE  DIRECTION  OF  THE 

PLAN  COMMITTEE 


LIST  OF  DONORS 

A.  F.  Banks  RolHn  A.  Keyes 

A.  H.  Bowman  Wm.  S.  Mason 

E.  J.  Buffington  Frank  H.  McCulloch 
Mrs.  D.  H.  Burnham,  Sr.  Henry  J.  Patten 

Ira  B.  Cook  Irwin  Rew 

Chas.  G.  Dawes  H.  B.  Riley 

Rufus  C.  Dawes  John  C.  Schaffer 

Mrs.  R.  B.  Ennis  Robt.  L.  Scott 

Michael  F.  Gallagher  A.  D.  Sheridan 

Chas.  F.  Grey  E.  K.  Warren 

F.  A.  Hardy  C.  P.  Wheeler 

O.  H.  Haugan  Chas.  P.  Whitney 
Oliver  T.  Wilson 


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'P/an      of     Evanston 


FOR  a  full  half  century  Evanston  has  had  a  character. 
People  have  thought  of  it  as  a  place  distinct,  somehow, 
from  the  other  suburbs  of  Chicago — a  place  where  cer- 
tain material  and  moral  advantages  were  enjoyed. 

A  legend  of  this  sort  does  not  grow  without  a  root  in  the 
facts.  The  site  of  Evanston  was  strategically  chosen  at  the 
convergence  of  the  Ridge  with  the  Lake  Shore.  It  was  the 
nearest  high  ground  to  Chicago  that  was  on  the  lake.  That 
is  one  root.  The  establishment  of  Northwestern  University, 
and  the  clause  in  its  charter  which  prohibited  the  sale  of 
liquor  within  a  four  mile  radius,  was  the  other. 

The  people  who  settled  here  during  the  sixties  and  seven- 
ties were  the  sort  of  people  to  whom  these  advantages  ap- 
pealed. They  wanted  lots  of  light  and  clean  air,  plenty  of 
room  for  their  children  to  play  about  in,  good  schools,  security 
for  their  youths  from  the  temptations  afforded  by  saloons;  a 
local  government  free  from  the  contaminations  of  big,  fast- 
growing,  careless,  unkempt  Chicago.  At  a  distance  of  twelve 
miles — forty-five  minutes  or  so  by  infrequent  trains,  and  they 
the  only  means  of  communication — the  security  seemed  ample. 

Those  of  us  who  remember  the  village  when  it  boasted 
five  thousand  inhabitants — and  the  memory  needn't  be  so 
very  long  to  do  it — the  village  with  its  gravel  roads,  capacious 
yards,  its  unbuilt  squares  every  here  and  there,  where  the 
aboriginal  oaks  had  not  yet  died  of  the  drainage  and  one 
could  always  find  wild  flowers  in  the  spring — we  who  can  re- 
member that  will  recall  the  innocent  pride  we  took  in  the 
growing  urbanity  of  the  place,  the  handsome  increase  we  showed 
in  the  census  returns,  the  new  school  buildings,  the  Chicago, 
Evanston  and  Lake  Superior  Railroad,  the  orange  colored 
electric  cars  which  took  us  all  the  way  in  to  the  Diversey  Street 
barns,  where  we  could  connect  with  the  North  Clark  Street 
cable.     We  got  ourselves  a  city  charter,  and  annexed  the  vil- 


8  ]  Vlan     of     E  vanst  on 

lages  of  North  and  South  Evanston.  We  surveyed  these 
changes  without  any  misgiving. 

We  were  pretty  well  satisfied  with  ourselves,  if  the  truth 
be  told.  It  didn't  occur  to  us  to  question  the  permanence  of 
our  original  advantages.  We  saw  the  big  yards  subdivided, 
the  vacant  squares  built  upon,  sporadic  solid  rows  of  houses, 
and  then  flat  buildings  appearing  here  and  there,  without 
asking  where  our  children's  children  were  to  find  playground 
space.  We  drained  our  sewage  into  the  lake  and  drank  its 
water,  without  reflecting  that  the  process  couldn't  go  on  in- 
definitely. We  went  on  confiding  in  our  isolation  from 
Chicago,  without  realizing  that  the  distance  was  getting 
shorter  year  by  year.  To  put  the  truth — unpalatable,  per- 
haps— in  a  nutshell,  the  civic  spirit  of  Evanston  did  not  keep 
pace  with  its  growth. 

It  is  a  matter  of  historical  experience,  to  be  sure,  that 
these  two  never  march  along  in  step.  Like  nations,  cities 
have  their  great  periods,  when,  after  a  long  somnolence,  com- 
munity spirit  springs  wide  awake — develops  leaders  and  fol- 
lows them,  and  accomplishes  immense  results.  The  results 
once  attained,  it  goes  to  sleep  again  with  them  clutched,  safely 
it  thinks,  in  its  fist. 

Evanston  has  had  its  sleep,  but  there  are  many  indica- 
tions now  that  it  is  waking  up.  Certainly  it  is  high  time  it 
did.  The  enveloping  growth  of  one  of  the  greatest  metro- 
politan districts  in  the  world  is  literally  at  our  doorsteps. 
Let  anyone  who  needs  conviction  upon  this  point  devote  the 
leisure  hours  of  a  Sunday  or  two  to  exploring,  by  street  car, 
bicycle  or  automobile,  the  district  bounded  by  Diversey, 
Crawford,  and  Howard  Streets.  Let  him  look  for  the  old 
time  villages  of  Lake  View,  Ravenswood,  and  Rogers  Park. 

The  legend  of  King  Canute,  who  ordered  the  tide  to  stop 
advancing  up  the  beach,  remains  the  classic  illustration  of 
the  fatuous  futility  of  repressive  legislation  when  it  is  opposed 
to  a  natural  growth.  Voting  against  annexation;  trying  to  dam 
up,  by  inadequate  through-routes,  the  rush  of  motor  traffic; 


^lan      of    Evanston  [9 

putting  up  a  level  resistance  everywhere  against  the  extension 
of  business  streets  and  centers,  will  avail  us  nothing.  But  a 
thoroughly  awakened  civic  spirit,  alert  to  meet  tomorrow's 
needs,  instead  of  merely  today's,  willing  to  make  actual 
sacrifices  of  time,  thought,  and  money,  will  avail  us  every- 
thing. 

On  the  purely  physical  side  there  are  three  great  problems 
to  be  met. 

1.  Provision  for  the  future  of  park  and  playground  space. 
The  park  was  once  an  aristocratic  way  of  displaying  wealth. 
The  prince  or  nobleman  showed  his  grandeur  by  the  extent  of 
his  parks,  land  which  he  could  afford  to  devote  to  a  non- 
productive use.  The  public  were  herded  along  the  pathways 
and  permitted  to  admire.  A  trace  of  this  old  feeling  still 
lingers  in  some  people's  minds  and  they  think  of  parks  as  a 
luxury.  Parks  are,  of  course,  no  more  a  luxury  than  a  man's 
lungs  are  a  luxury.  They  are,  in  sober,  literal  truth,  the 
lungs  of  a  city.  And  any  city  which  allows  its  lung  capacity 
to  become  inadequate  will  stifle. 

2.  Street  circulation.  Just  as  parks  and  playgrounds  are 
lungs,  so  streets  are  veins  and  arteries.  No  neighborhood,  or 
district,  whose  circulatory  needs  are  not  provided  for  by  its 
streets,  can  have  a  healthy  growth.  It  should  be  observed 
that  all  streets  do  not  serve  the  same  purpose.  There  must 
be  streets  whose  main  function  is  to  carry  through  traffic.  If 
the  through  traffic  exists,  and  no  great  arteries  are  provided 
for  it,  it  will  seize  upon  for  its  needs  whatever  it  can  find — 
narrow  streets  not  designed  to  accomodate  more  than  the 
traffic  of  their  residents.  It  will  endanger  life  and  limb,  and 
be  a  cause  of  endless  exasperation.  Absolutely  the  only  rem- 
edy for  this  state  of  things  is  the  provision  of  great  trunk 
arteries  to  handle  this  through  traffic. 

3.  The  proper  location  and  development  of  business  cen- 
ters: These,  to  carry  our  analogy  one  step  further,  are  the 
alimentary  organs  of  a  city.     No  residence  district  can,  or 


10 


'P/an      of     Evanston 


will,  exist  without  these.  People  won't  go  more  than  about 
so  far  to  get  their  daily  supplies,  and  what  happens  when  this 
need  is  not  recognized  is  simply  the  outcropping,  here  and 
there,  to  the  speechless  indignation  of  immediate  neighbors, 
of  little  rows  of  buildings  with  store  fronts. 

No  householder  in  any  residence  district  has  any  security 
against  having  this  happen  to  him,  unless  his  district  is  ad- 
equately served  by  a  business  center.  Therefore,  it  is  of 
paramount  importance  in  any  city  plan  that  natural  centers 
of  business  activity  should  be  organized — arranged  in  such 
a  way  as  to  give  not  only  the  highest  efficiency  through  an 
area  of  high  rents,  but,  where  possible,  a  high  attractiveness. 

It  is  these  three  vital  problems  that  are  dealt  with  in  the 
plan  which  is  here  offered.  You  will  find  the  maps,  drawings, 
and  descriptions  which  follow  worthy  of  your  most  earnest 
consideration. 


STREET  AND  HIGHWAYS 


12  J  Vlan      of     Evanston 


H 


II 

IGHWAYS  are  divided  for  the  purpose  of  this  report 
into  three  groups: 

Group  "A":  Those  streets  and  highways  used  for 
pleasure  traffic  with  commercial  usage 
restricted  to  the  domestic  needs  of  the 
people  living  along  them. 

Group  "B":  Trunk  arteries  for  local  and  through 
commercial  traffic. 

Group  "C":  Streets  and  highways  used  for  a  com- 
bination of  Groups  "A"  and  "B." 

GROUP "A" 

Sheridan  Road  through  Evanston  is  a  disgrace  in  its 
present  haphazard  condition.  The  city  has  hesitated  to 
straighten  it,  and  put  in  permanent  pavement,  because  under 
present  conditions  if  improved  it  would  at  once  become  the 
main  through  artery  from  Chicago  to  Milwaukee  and  points 
intervening.  Unless  we  provide  means  to  divert  this  travel 
away  from  Sheridan  Road  there  is  no  way  that  we  can  stop 
the  menace.  Even  if  we  leave  the  road  in  its  present  dis- 
graceful condition  it  will  receive  heavy  travel  notwithstand- 
ing. The  issue  is  so  pressing  that  immediate  steps  to  relieve 
the  congestion  must  be  taken.  We  make  several  suggestions 
further  on  in  this  report  for  alleviating  the  condition  of 
Sheridan  Road. 

Leaving  the  issue  for  the  moment,  we  recommend  that 
Sheridan  Road  through  Evanston  be  re-routed  as  follows: 
Enter  Evanston  from  the  south  as  at  present  around  the  east 
end  of  Calvary  Cemetery,  but  instead  of  turning  west  at  Rinn 
Street  (immediately  north  of  Calvary  Cemetery)  continue 
north  for  one  block  on  Sheridan  Square  to  Keeney  Street. 
Then  let  the  vacant  lot  on  the  northeast  corner  of  Sheridan 


PROPOSED     PARK.     y^D     STREET     DEVELOPMENT 


Vlan     of    E  vans  t  on  [  15 

Road  and  Keeney  Street  be  acquired,  together  with  its  ripar- 
ian rights,  and  divert  the  road  from    Sheridan  Square  diag- 
onally by  an  easy  curve  across  this  property  in  a  northwest- 
erly direction  back  into  the  present  Sheridan  Road.     If  prac- 
tical, close  Keeney  Street  east  of  Sheridan  Road  and  use  the 
balance  of  the  acquired  property  for  a  park  and  possibly  the 
beach  for  bathing.     From  Keeney  Street  continue  the  road 
north  as  at  present  to  Main  Street,  but  instead  of  going  west 
on  Main  Street  go  straight  north  through  the  Knox  property 
and  join  into  Lake  Shore  Boulevard  beyond.     Then  continue 
north  along  the  lake  shore  to  Greenwood  Boulevard.   At  Green- 
wood Boulevard  go  northwest  by  an  easy  curve  back  into 
the  present  Sheridan  Road,  and  continue  around  the  Univer- 
sity and  into  Wilmette  over  the  drainage  canal  bridge.     Use 
diligence  to  ease  off  the  curbs  at  the  corners  into  larger  radius 
curves,  doing  this  by  cutting  away  the  parkways  outside  of 
the  sidewalks,  which  are  city  property.     This  is  the  obvious 
route  to  be  adopted  because  it  is  the  shortest  and  would  cost 
much  less  to  keep  in  repair  when  once  paved  than  the  longer 
present  route  with  its  many  sharp  corners.     This  suggested 
route  would  be  less  objectionable  to  private  property  owners 
as  a  whole  because  it  has  the  lake  or  the  University  on  the 
east  almost  its  full  length,  and  cuts  the  private  frontage  of 
the  present  route  in  half.     We  should  not  let  the  private 
interests  of  a  few  block  an  improvement  which  will  benefit 
the  whole  city. 

Aside  from  its  other  merits  this  route  would  be  the  most 
beautiful  stretch  of  road  in  this  part  of  the  world. 

Island  Drive :  We  advocate  the  construction  of  an  island 
in  the  lake  along  the  entire  frontage  of  Evanston  from  the 
south  limits  to  University  Place  and  possibly  in  front  of  the 
University.  This  island  should  be  separated  from  the  shore 
by  600  feet  of  open  water  to  be  used  for  aquatics.  On  this 
island  we  suggest  constructing  a  driveway  so  that  automobiles 
could  be  diverted  at  the  south  limit  of  Evanston  and  get  back 
into  the  Sheridan  Road,  either  at  University  Place  or  near  the 


16  1  'Plan      of     E  V  an  s  t  on 

mouth  of  the  drainage  canal  in  Wilmette.  This  island  scheme 
is  similar  to  the  one  advocated  to  connect  Grant  Park  and 
Jackson  Park,  and  the  one  to  carry  Sheridan  Road  from  a 
point  north  of  the  Lincoln  Park  Yacht  Club  to  Devon  Avenue 
(the  extent  of  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Lincoln  Park  Commis- 
sioners for  the  moment).  It  is  not  looking  forward  many- 
years  to  visualize  this  island  extended  north  from  Devon 
Avenue  past  Evanston  and  connecting  into  Sheridan  Road 
near  the  mouth  of  the  drainage  canal  at  Wilmette,  also 
recommended  by  the  Chicago  plan. 

Canal  Boulevard:  We  advocate  the  construction  of  a 
boulevard  along  the  west  bank  of  the  Drainage  Canal,  from 
Brown  Avenue  to  the  south  city  limits  to  connect  with  the 
continuation  of  Kedzie  Avenue,  Chicago,  from  the  point 
where  it  now  stops  at  Lincoln  Avenue.  We  urge  that  this 
boulevard  be  built  on  the  top  of  the  spoil  bank  so  that  it  will 
be  an  elevated  driveway  for  fast  moving  vehicles,  and  that  it 
pass  over  intersecting  streets  upon  inexpensive  viaducts. 

Direct  access  will  be  had  to  Wilmette,  by  an  extension  of 
Brown  Avenue,  into  Lincoln  Avenue,  and  then  into  Central 
Street.  A  glance  at  the  map  makes  it  obvious  that  such  a 
route  would  enable  residents  of  all  towns  north  of  Evanston 
to  reach  Chicago  in  better  time  than  by  Sheridan  Road,  even 
if  Sheridan  Road  be  improved  and  straightened  as  suggested 
above.  Access  to  this  route  could  be  had,  in  Chicago,  by  way 
of  Diversey,  Lawrence,  Bryn  Mawr,  Peterson,  Devon  and 
Touhy  Avenues,  and  from  Evanston  by  Oakton  and  Dempster 
Streets. 

By  opening  this  western  route  through  Evanston,  access 
is  made  easy,  also,  to  the  Thalmann  Road  north  into  Wilmette 
and  Winnetka,  as  well  as,  via  the  Harm's  Timber  Road,  and 
Lake  Avenue  Wilmette,  to  the  excellent  outer  highways 
running  north  via  Wheeling  and  via  Deerfield. 

Ridge  Avenue :  Ridge  Avenue  gives  access  to  Chicago  by 
way  of  Clark  Street.  On  the  north  it  leads  into  Wilmette  by 
Sheridan  Road  and  by  Railroad  Avenue.     There  is  a  city 


3T0/S 


HIGHWAYS    OF    LVANSTON    AND     VICINITY 


'Plan     of    Evanston  [  19 

ordinance  in  existence  making  Ridge  Avenue  a  boulevard, 
but  the  street  has  had  to  take  the  overflow  of  commercial 
traffic  from  Chicago  Avenue  and  Clark  Street,  and  acts  more 
or  less  as  a  trunk  artery  for  heavy  traffic.  When  Dodge 
Avenue  is  put  in  shape,  as  suggested  below,  and  with  Asbury 
now  opened  into  Western  Avenue,  Chicago,  Ridge  will  be 
relieved  of  the  commercial  through  traffic  and  should  be 
maintained  strictly  as  a  boulevard. 

GROUP  "B" 

Chicago  Avenue,  which  connects  with  Chicago  along  Clark 
Street,  is  the  only  outlet  from  Evanston  for  strictly  com- 
mercial vehicles.  It  will  always  remain,  because  of  its  central 
location,  the  most  important  street  for  heavy  traffic.  It  is 
now  badly  congested  with  huge  trucks,  funeral  processions, 
farm  market  wagons,  and  street  cars.  It  is  just  as  important 
to  the  welfare  of  Evanston  that  immediate  steps  be  taken  to 
relieve  this  traffic  congestion  on  Chicago  Avenue  as  it  is  to 
relieve  the  congestion  of  pleasure  vehicles  along  Sheridan 
Road.  The  easier  it  is  for  motor  trucks  to  reach  Evanston 
from  Chicago,  the  quicker  they  can  travel  and  consequently 
the  cheaper  it  will  be  to  transport  goods  to  our  merchants. 

We  have  made  recommendations  in  the  following  pages  for 
opening  up  additional  streets  for  traffic  communication  with 
Chicago  to  relieve  this  congestion  on  Chicago  Avenue  and 
Clark  Street. 

We  recommend  that  the  present  usage  of  Chicago  Avenue 
for  heavy  traffic  be  maintained  from  Howard  Street  on  the 
south  to  Church  Street  on  the  north,  but  that  a  sign  be  placed 
on  an  island  to  be  located  at  the  corner  of  Church  Street  and 
Chicago  Avenue,  diverting  all  heavy  traffic  west  to  East 
Railroad  Avenue  along  Church  Street  and  let  it  enter  Wil- 
mette  on  West  Railroad  Avenue.  From  Church  Street  north 
we  recommend  that  Chicago  Avenue  be  maintained  as  a 
boulevard  to  the  point  where  it  merges  with  Sheridan  Road 
at  University  Place. 


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Vlan     of    Evanston  \  21 

If  it  were  possible  at  some  future  date  to  continue  East 
Railroad  Avenue  from  Emerson  Street  north  across  the  canal 
the  congestion  wou'd  be  greatly  relieved. 

Dodge  Avenue:     It  will  be  seen  by  glancing  at  the  map  of 
Evanston  that  Dodge  Avenue  is  the  best  street  on  the  west 
side  of  the  city  that  can  be  developed  for  through  north  and 
south  traffic.     It  is  destined  to  play  a  very  important  part  in 
the  development  of  this  section  of  Evanston.     It  connects  into 
Chicago  by  North  California  Avenue,  which  in  turn  runs  into 
Lincoln  Avenue.     Dodge  Avenue  terminates  on  the  north  at 
the  drainage  canal.     Unfortunately,  there  is  no  provision  in 
the  agreement  between  the  City  of  Evanston  and  the  Sanitary 
Trustees  for  a  bridge  across  the  drainage  canal  at  Dodge 
Avenue.     Provision  should  be  made  for  a  bridge  to  connect 
Dodge  Avenue  with  Brown  Avenue  across  the  canal.     After 
crossing  this  bridge  the  traffic  route  would  be  north  along 
Brown  Avenue,  extended  as  shown  on  our  map  to  connect 
into  Harrison  Street,  thence  by  Harrison  Street  and  Central 
Street  to  Railroad  Avenue;  and  thence  north  along  Railroad 
Avenue  into  Wilmette.     The  small  triangular  piece  bounded 
by  Harrison  Street  and  Brown  Avenue  extended  and  Prairie 
Avenue  should  be  acquired  as  a  city  park.     Where  Dodge 
crosses  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  tracks  at  Lake  Street  it 
should  be  carried  over  in  a  straight  line  and  not  by  the  awk- 
ward "S"  turn  as  at  present.     Dodge  Avenue  should  receive 
a  most  substantial  pavement,  because  it  will  have  the  heaviest 
possible  usage,  serving  as  it  does  the  factories  and  brick  yards 
along  its  route.    Furthermore,  this  street  is  destined  to  receive 
the  heavy  traffic  of  market  wagons  and  motor  trucks  coming 
from  the  farms  to  the  west  of  Evanston.    We  predict  as  soon 
as  Dodge  Avenue  is  paved  and  opened  into  Chicago  that  at 
least  one-third  of  the  congestion  on  the  Chicago  Avenue  and 
Clark  Street  route  will  be  eliminated. 

Asbury  Avenue :  Now  that  this  street  has  been  connected 
into  Western  Avenue,  Chicago,  and  the  street  cars  run  as  far 
as  Howard  Street,   traffic  should  be  encouraged  to  utilize 


22  ]  'PJan     of     Evanston 

Asbury  Avenue  as  far  north  as  Main  Street.  In  this  way 
Asbury  Avenue  will  tend  to  relieve  the  congestion  on  Chicago 
Avenue.  Main  Street,  Dempster  Street  and  Davis  Street 
should  be  used  to  cross-connect  the  Dodge  Avenue,  Asbury 
Avenue  and  Chicago  Avenue  heavy  traffic,  and  such  traffic 
should  be  excluded  from  all  other  cross  streets  except  Howard 
Street  and  Harrison  Street. 

GROUP  "C" 

Rinn  Street  (South  Boulevard) :  We  advocate  that  Rinn 
Street  east  of  the  tracks  be  connected  into  Oakton  Street 
west  of  the  Chicago  &  Northwestern  viaduct  by  acquiring 
the  south  half  of  the  block,  as  shown  on  our  map,  between 
Custer  and  Linden  Streets.  Carry  Rinn  Street  across  this 
property  by  an  easy  curve  to  connect  into  Oakton  Street 
at  Custer  Street,  the  balance  of  the  property  acquired  to  be 
used  as  a  park.  From  Custer  Street  west  continue  along 
Oakton  Street  as  at  present  laid  out  and  connect  into  the 
proposed  Canal  Boulevard  by  a  ramp. 

Dempster  Street:  The  County  Commissioners  have  al- 
ready advocated  Dempster  Street  as  a  State  Aid  Road,  from 
the  west  limits  of  Evanston  to  Milwaukee  Avenue.  It  is 
only  logical  that  Evanston  should  meet  this  advance  by 
putting  this  street  in  its  best  possible  condition  out  to  its  west 
limits.  Dempster  Street  because  of  its  central  situation  and 
its  great  length  is  the  most  important  west  exit  for  Evanston, 
and  nothing  should  be  left  undone  to  make  it  thoroughly 
practical. 

After  Dempster  Street  reaches  Milwaukee  Avenue,  motors 
can  continue  west  on  the  Ballard  Road  by  a  slight  jog  north 
along  Milwaukee  Avenue.  The  Ballard  Road  leads  into  the 
Rand  Road,  northwest  of  DesPlaines.  The  Ballard  Road  is 
under  construction  now  and  the  Rand  Road  under  contract 
to  be  paved  at  once  with  concrete.  The  Rand  Road  runs  in  a 
northwesterly  direction  out  through  open  country  as  far  as 
the  Cook  County  line,  which  brings  the  road  within  five  miles 


'Plan     of    Evanston  [23 

of  Lake  Zurich,  a  distance  of  30  miles  of  continuous  paved 
road  from  Evanston,  if  Dempster  Street  is  put  in  shape. 

Harrison  Street:  We  beheve  that  Central  Street  should 
be  abandoned  as  the  principal  north-end  exit  from  Evanston 
to  the  west,  and  in  its  stead  we  advocate  Lincoln  Street,  and 
Harrison  Street,  which  is  twice  as  long  as  Central  Street  and 
starts  direct  from  the  lake  at  the  water-works  (Lincoln 
Street)  where  it  is  proposed  by  Mr.  Cone  to  locate  the  new 
municipal  bathing  beach.  We  advocate  improving  Lincoln 
Street,  starting  at  the  lake  and  conveying  it  over  the  drain- 
age canal  and  going  one  block  west  of  Ewing  Avenue.  At 
this  point  it  diverts  by  an  easy  curve  into  Harrison  Street. 
From  this  point  put  the  road  in  shape  to  connect  with  that 
already  completed  part  of  the  road  which  starts  west  from 
where  it  intersects  the  Caledonia  Road  and  continues  west, 
passing  between  the  Westmoreland  Golf  Club  and  the  new 
cemetery,  and  continue  the  pavement  of  this  road  to  its  ter- 
minus at  the  Harm's  Timber  Road,  which  is  about  a  quarter 
of  a  mile  east  of  the  north  branch  of  the  Chicago  River. 
From  this  point  motors  could  go  either  north  along  the  Harm's 
Timber  Road  and  connect  with  the  Glen  View  Road  or  go 
north  along  the  Harm's  Road  to  Lake  Forest,  or  else  south 
to  Morton  Grove,  Niles  Center,  Niles,  and  points  west.  Ref- 
erence to  the  map  will  show  the  advantages  of  Harrison  Street 
running  from  the  lake  to  the  Harm's  Timber  Road  almost 
straight,  and  a  great  saving  of  time  in  reaching  Glen  View 
village,  eliminating  the  necessity  of  going  by  way  of  Gross 
Point  with  its  notoriously  bad  roads,  as  must  be  done  by  way 
of  Central  Street. 

Caledonia  Road:  This  road  leads  from  Milwaukee  Ave- 
nue at  Niles  northeast  to  and  connecting  into  Winnetka  at 
Willow  Road;  we  understand  that  Winnetka  will  soon  open  up 
the  balance  of  Railroad  Avenue  along  the  west  side  of  the 
tracks,  which  will  connect  the  Caledonia  Road  with  the  Green 
Bay  Road,  thus  making  the  Caledonia  Road  a  very  important 
highway.     Furthermore,  at  Willow  Street  you  can  cross  under 


24  ]  "Plan      of     Evanston 

the  tracks  and  go  straight  northeast  to  Sheridan  Road  on  the 
existing  diagonal  street.  Evanston  is  interested  in  the 
improvement  of  the  Caledonia  Road  because  it  will  be  another 
way  of  diverting  traffic  from  the  towns  to  the  north  of  us 
back  into  Lincoln  Avenue,  and  into  Chicago  without  passing 
through  Evanston.  Bear  in  mind  that  nobody  wants  to  go 
through  a  congested  city  like  Evanston  if  easy  ways  are 
provided  to  go  around. 

Lincoln  Avenue:  We  cannot  emphasize  too  strongly 
the  tremendous  importance  of  permanently  improving  Lincoln 
Avenue.  Already  Milwaukee  Avenue  is  paved  with  concrete 
and  is  a  great  north  and  south  highway,  but  it  lies  eight 
miles  to  the  west  of  Evanston  and  only  aids  indirectly  in  the 
relief  of  motor  congestion  along  the  North  Shore.  Lincoln 
Avenue,  however,  lying  about  halfway  between  Evanston  and 
Milwaukee  Avenue,  will  do  more  than  any  other  road  to 
divert  motor  congestion  from  the  lake  shore,  except  the  pro- 
posed Canal  Boulevard. 

We  urge  that  the  pavement  of  Lincoln  Avenue  be  con- 
tinued to  Niles  Center  to  connect  into  the  Caledonia  Road. 
This  will  help  divert  commercial  traffic  from  our  streets, 
which  we  believe  is  as  important  as  diverting  pleasure  traffic. 
Both  tear  up  our  pavements,  but  heavy  trucks  are  more  of  a 
menace  than  lighter  motor  cars. 

Harm's  Timber  Road:  We  recommend  that  the  Harm's 
Timber  Road  which  now  terminates  at  Lake  Avenue  (west  of 
Wilmette)  be  connected  in  a  northeasterly  direction  across 
the  Chicago  and  Northwestern  tracks  into  the  Happ  Road. 
By  following  the  Happ  Road  and  recrossing  the  Chicago  8e 
Northwestern  tracks  at  Northfield,  and  continuing  along  this 
road  until  it  connects  into  the  Skokie  Road  ( which  is  the  road 
east  and  west  between  Winnetka  and  Wheeling),  then  going 
west  for  a  half  mile  along  the  Skokie  Road  and  turning  north 
on  the  first  road  to  the  right,  which  road  leads  direct  into 
Lake  Forest.      By  using  this  route  residents  of  Lake  Forest 


'P/ a  n      o  f    E  V  a  n  s  t  o  n  [25 


and  intermediate  points  can  connect   into   Canal  Boulevard 
and  thus  avoid  Evanston. 

Thalmann  Road:     Mr.  Willam    G.    Hibbard    and    others 
living  in  Winnetka  have  made  arrangements  to  connect  the 
Thalmann  Road  through  to  Harrison  Street  west  of  Evanston, 
and  they  are  endeavoring  to  carry  this  road  through  to  con- 
nect with  Lincoln  Avenue  at  Niles  Center.     It  is  obviously  to 
the  advantage  of  Evanston  that  this  should  be  accomplished, 
rather  than  that  the  Winnetka  motorists  reach  Chicago  by 
going  east  on  Harrison  Street  and  passing  through  Evanston. 
Milwaukee  Avenue:     Before   the   summer   of   1917    Mil- 
waukee Avenue  will  have  a  first  class  pavement.     Its  use  will 
enable  motors  to  go  continuously  from  Chicago  to  the  north 
limits   of  Wheeling.     Motor   trucks   are   even   now   running 
daily  from  a  farm  located  just  south  of  Wheeling  at  a  point 
where  Milwaukee  Avenue  road  crosses  the  DesPlaines  River, 
into  the  Randolph  Market  in  two  hours.     This  is  a  demon- 
stration of  the  commercial  advantage  to  the  farmer  in  im- 
proving highways.     Good  roads  mean  the  emancipation  of 
the  farmer  from  his  all  n'ght  ride  on  the  old-fashioned  horse 
drawn  market  wagon  in  order  to  reach  Chicago  for  the  early 
morning  business.     Milwaukee  Avenue  is  destined  to  become 
one  of  the  vast  highway  systems  of  the  world.     From  Mil- 
waukee Avenue  at  its  intersection  with  Lawrence  Avenue, 
the  Higgins  Road  leads  to  Dundee,  and  this  road  is  to  be 
paved  in   1917  to  the  county  line,  a  distance  of  15  miles. 
Combining    Milwaukee    Avenue    and    its    connecting    roads 
already  paved  or  to  be  paved  in  1917  in  Cook  County,  out- 
side the  Chicago  limits,  will  make  about  forty  miles  of  as 
good  roads  as  there  are  in  the  world.     Evanston  must  tap 
into  this  system.     When  Dempster  Street  is  paved  to  Mil- 
waukee Avenue  it  will  add  eight  miles  more. 

The  advantages  to  Evanston  of  being  connected  into  these 
good  roads  are  numerous.  One  advantage  would  be  to  bring 
the  people  from  the  smaller  towns  to  the  west  into  Evanston 
to  do  their  shopping,  thus  benefitting  Evanston  merchants. 


26 


Vlan      of     Evanston 


These  small  towns  will  send  their  dairy  and  farm  products  to 
our  markets,  and  we  will  procure  cheaper  and  fresher  products 
for  our  tables.  The  people  of  Evanston  will  motor  back  and 
forth  between  the  adjoining  towns  and  spend  money  in  their 
shops.  Good  roads  will  not  only  be  beneficial  to  Evanston 
but  to  every  other  town  with  which  it  is  brought  into  com- 
munication by  means  of  them. 


id''   '    '     ',     '  .. 


A  SUGGESTION  FOR  DEVELOPING  WITH  GRASS.  VINES,  SHRUBBERY  AND  A  FOUNTAIN 
THE   SMALL   TRIANGULAR    SPACE    WEST    OF    ROSENBERG'S  STORE 
BETWEEN    THE    ELEVATED    AND    NORTHWESTERN 
TRACKS  SOUTH  OF  DAVIS  STREET 


THE  CITY  CENTER 


28   I  'l-lanojEvanston 


III 

ONE  of  the  gravest  defects  in  the  present  arrangement 
of  Evanston  is  the  lack  of  a  proper  development  of  the 
central  part  of  the  city. 

This  portion  is  bounded  by  Davis  Street  on  the  south,  the 
Chicago  and  Northwestern  right  of  way  on  the  west,  Church 
Street  on  the  north  and  Orrington  Avenue  on  the  east.  In 
addition  to  important  business  blocks  and  banks  it  contains 
the  City  Hall,  the  Public  Library,  the  Post  Office,  the  Chicago 
and  Northwestern  Railway  Station,  the  Northwestern  Elev- 
ated Station,  the  Chicago  North  Shore  and  Milwaukee  sta- 
tion, and  the  Sherman  Avenue  surface  line.  It  contains  also 
three  parks;  the  little  park  between  the  Northwestern  and 
the  Elevated  right  of  way,  Commercial  Park,  and  Fountain 
Square  Park. 

An  inspection  of  the  plans  will  show  that  the  Public 
buildings  in  this  area,  beautiful  as  some  of  them  are,  are 
entirely  unrelated  to  each  other,  and  that  the  parks,  also 
beautiful,  are  inadequate  in  size  and  are  but  imprisoned  bits 
of  greensward,  incapable  of  being  seen  or  enjoyed  except  as 
units.  Thus  Commercial  Park,  blocked  to  the  south  by 
buildings,  is  used  almost  exclusively  as  a  short  cut  from 
street  to  street.  Railroad  Park,  hemmed  in  by  two  railroads, 
does  not  appeal  either  as  a  breathing  or  resting  place.  The 
little  park  in  Fountain  Square  affords  no  resting  place,  and 
is  rendered  inaccessible  both  by  its  iron  fence  and  by  the 
street  car  tracks  that  closely  skirt  its  eastern  edge.  Naturally 
people  prefer  the  sidewalks  to  the  parks,  and  we  find  the  for- 
mer crowded  and  the  latter  deserted. 

We  have  attempted  to  show  in  our  plan  for  the  City 
Center  an  extension  and  correlation  of  the  parks,  and  the  res- 
ervation of  certain  areas  for  new  buildings  of  a  public  nature 
which  the  future  needs  of  Evanston  will  demand.  It  is  pro- 
posed to  acquire  and  remove  the  buildings  in  the  triangular 


PRESENT     STATE     OF      CITY     CENTER^ 


30  ]  'VlanofEivanston 

block  between  Commercial  Park  and  Fountain  Square. 
Only  one  of  these  buildings  is  substantial.  Commercial  Park 
thus  enlarged,  would  be  beautified  with  a  large  fountain  and 
pool,  and  with  shrubs,  flowerbeds,  and  paths.  Around  its 
entire  boundary  would  be  a  parking  space  for  automobiles, 
large  enough  to  hold  all  of  the  cars  which  now  encumber 
Davis  Street,  thereby  giving  to  Evanston  the  unique  distinc- 
tion of  having  solved  the  problem  of  parking  automobiles  in 
a  business  district. 

In  the  block  containing  the  City  Hall  and  Post  Office  are 
located  two  alleys,  both  connecting  Sherman  with  Benson 
Avenues.  We  propose  acquiring  the  land  between  these 
alleys  and  removing  all  the  buildings  which  are  for  the  most 
part  of  little  value.  The  space  thus  acquired  would  be 
transformed  into  a  park  or  public  Mall,  the  center  free  from 
trees,  but  beautified  by  flowers  and  statuary.  On  either  side 
of  this  Mall  would  be  walks  lined  with  trees  to  connect  Benson 
and  Sherman  Avenues.  The  rear  of  buildings  now  fronting 
on  Davis  Street  would  then  face  on  the  Mall.  These  build- 
ings should  be  beautified  architecturally  to  harmonize  with 
their  surroundings.  The  shops  would  thus  have  double 
frontages,  and  their  desirability  correspondingly  enhanced 
from  a  renting  standpoint.  Lake  Forest  has  recently  built 
opposite  the  Railway  station,  a  square  surrounded  by  build- 
ings built  in  a  distinctive  style  of  architecture.  This  is  a  some- 
what similar  enterprise  to  ours,  and  theirs  has  already  proved 
a  financial  success,  as  well  as  a  notable  artistic  and  civic 
achievement.  It  has  added  greatly  to  the  desirability  of  Lake 
Forest,  both  for  business  and  residence,  and  added  immensely 
to  real  estate  values.     See  illustration  page  39. 

Railroad  Park  would  be  rescued  from  its  present  iso- 
lation, and  standing  as  it  does  at  the  west  end  would  become 
the  head  or  terminus  of  the  Mall  by  simply  opening  up  the 
embankment  under  the  elevated  structure  and  replacing  the 
present  eastern  wall  with  a  monumental  and  ornamental 
steel  bridge  of  three  spans.     With  this  arrangement  Railroad 


rPROPOSED        CITY        CENTER 


'Plan     of    Evanston  [33 

Park  would  become  the  western  terminus  of  the  City  Center 
and  be  visible  from  Orrington  Avenue.  A  fountain  in  the 
center  of  Railroad  Park  would  be  balanced  by  another  foun- 
tain in  Commercial  Park,  and  the  two  parks  and  Mall  would 
thus  be  tied  together. 

Fountain  Square  Park,  with  its  beautiful  elms  and  its 
fountain  should  be  preserved,  but  we  feel  it  could  be  made 
practical  if  the  fountain  were  moved  some  feet  to  the  east, 
in  order  to  permit  straightening  the  street  car  tracks,  and 
eliminate  the  sweeping  curve  which  has  been  a  menace  for  so 
many  years;  the  space  around  the  fountain  when  relocated 
would  be  treated  with  grass  and  a  circular  walk,  to  serve  as  a 
much  needed  safety  island  for  the  heart  of  the  city.  This 
little  park  would  also  serve  to  direct  traffic,  and  prevent  the 
cross-cutting  of  vehicles,  which  is  always  dangerous  and 
confusing.  A  second  safety  island  and  underground  comfort 
station  is  suggested  contiguous  to  the  surface  trolley  tracks, 
on  Sherman  Avenue  just  south  of  Davis  Street. 

The  parks  contained  in  the  City  Center,  besides  their 
obvious  functions  of  providing  rest  and  recreation,  would 
serve  as  invaluable  landscape  settings  for  the  public  buildings. 
Of  these  buildings,  the  first  in  importance  is  the  present  City 
Hall,  facing  the  public  Mall  to  the  north,  with  Sherman 
Avenue  to  the  east  and  Davis  Street  to  the  south.  The 
second,  the  present  Post  Office,  occupies  a  similar  situation, 
flanking  the  Mall  to  the  north  and  having  Sherman  Avenue 
to  the  east  and  Church  Street  on  the  north  side.  When  the 
time  comes  that  a  new  fire  engine  house,  poUce  station,  and 
municipal  building  are  required,  they  should  be  drawn  into 
the  civic  group  and  located  on  the  east  side  of  Commercial 
Park  on  Orrington  Avenue.  This  building  group  would  be 
a  fitting  terminus  for  the  eastern  vista  through  the  Mall. 

Among  the  new  buildings  which  will  be  required  as  Evan- 
ston grows  in  size  and  metropolitan  dignity  the  most  probable 
are  an  Auditorium  and  a  Museum.  Under  the  "Coliseum 
Act"  of  the  Illinois  legislature    any  town  or  city  may  issue 


34  J  'Plan      of     Evanston 

bonds  for  the  erection  of  a  public  auditorium.  The  Audi- 
torium might  be  located  on  the  site  of  the  Haven  school.  The 
Art  Museum  is  placed  on  the  west  side  of  Church  Street,  on 
the  north  and  south  axis  drawn  through  Commercial  Park. 
The  location  of  both  these  buildings  makes  them  an  important 
part  of  the  City  Center  group. 

This  somewhat  elaborate  scheme  for  the  beautification 
of  the  City  Center  would  not  have  been  presented  to  the 
people  of  Evanston  and  the  city  council  if  we  had  not  con- 
sidered it  beautiful,  practical,  and  above  all,  of  vital  necessity 
to  the  city.  Evanston  has  a  national  reputation  for  culture, 
clean  and  healthful  living  conditions,  a  city  government 
without  reproach,  unsurpassed  schools,  and  a  residence 
district  excelled  by  none  in  the  land.  A  visitor,  ignorant  of 
our  virtues,  on  entering  the  city  at  either  of  the  Davis  Street 
stations  would  have  little  promise  of  what  the  city  holds  in 
store  for  him.  Unquestionably,  the  city  gate  and  city  center 
are  mean,  inadequate,  and  utterly  unworthy  a  city  of  the  size 
and  importance  of  Evanston,  and  they  are  injurious  to  our 
fair  reputation.  It  does  not  take  much  imagination  to 
picture  the  advantages  that  would  accrue  to  Evanston  if 
the  scheme  as  suggested  for  the  City  Center  could  be  realized. 
It  would  mean  added  population,  increased  business  for  the 
merchants  and  above  all,  it  would  give  Evanstonians  some- 
thing they  would  be  proud  of  and  thus  develop  a  greater 
civic  pride.  The  greatest  benefit  it  would  give  us  would  be, 
perhaps,  that  of  making  for  higher  ideals  of  citizenship. 

As  Evanston  grows,  sub  City  Centers  would  become 
necessary  at  Main  and  Central  Streets.  At  these  points 
might  be  located  branches  of  the  Post  Office  and  Library, 
which,  together  with  the  Fire  Engine  stations  and  Police 
Departments,  would  form  civic  groups  of  interest  and  impor- 
tance. These  sub-groups  have  not  been  developed  on  the 
plans,  but  their  necessity  in  the  not  distant  future  should  be 
recognized  and  provided  for. 


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'Plan     of    Evanston  [37 


BUSINESS  CENTERS 

In  a  growing  city  like  Evanston  shopping  centers  spring 
up  around  the  transportation  terminals. 

Davis  Street:  At  Davis  Street  are  located  the  stations 
of  the  Chicago  8e  Northwestern  Railway  and  the  North- 
western Elevated  Station,  and  the  reorganized  Chicago,  North 
Shore  &  Milwaukee  Railroad  is  also  to  use  the  latter  station. 
Merchants  are  the  greatest  gainers  by  a  well  developed  City 
Center,  and  they  should  make  every  effort  to  further  the  City 
Center  plan,  because  such  development  will  attract  people 
from  neighboring  towns  to  do  their  shopping  in  Evanston, 
and  each  dollar  spent  for  the  City  Plan  will  attract  additional 
dollars  to  the  merchants.  At  Davis  Street  are  located  our 
largest  banks  and  biggest  shops  and  we  feel  that  this  is  really 
the  heart  of  Evanston  and  that  we  are  therefore  justified  in 
designating  this  as  the  City  Center. 

Main  Street:  Main  Street,  with  the  Chicago  &  North- 
western and  the  Elevated  Railroad  stations  and  the  street 
railway  is  already  a  very  important  commercial  center,  and 
its  development  on  both  sides  of  the  tracks  is  both  startling 
and  worthy  of  the  highest  praise.  Here  the  merchants  are 
already  organized.  They  should  guard  against  any  attempt 
to  spoil  the  parkway  east  of  the  Elevated  tracks.  This  is  a 
great  commercial  asset,  and  there  are  great  possibilities  at 
Main  Street  for  artistic  development. 

Central  Street :  At  Central  Street  two  separate  shopping 
centers  have  sprung  up,  one  around  the  Chicago  85  North- 
western Station,  and  one  around  the  Elevated  Station.  Both 
of  these  centers  are  growing  rapidly  and  should  be  developed 
by  some  established  plan.  The  merchants  might  well  ad- 
vocate the  connection  of  Central  Street  and  Dodge  Avenue 
by  way  of  Brown  Avenue  across  the  drainage  canal.  (See 
paragraph  on  Dodge  Avenue  under  Streets  and  Highways.) 


COMMERCIAL  PARK 


FOUNTAIN  SQUARE 


'Plan     of    Evanston 


[39 


MINOR  BUSINESS  CENTERS 

There  is  now  a  small  business  center  already  begun  along 
the  street  railway  at  the  west  end  of  Central  Street,  and 
another  on  Railroad  Avenue  near  Emerson  Street,  one  at 
Howard  Street,  one  at  the  west  end  of  Greenleaf  Street,  one 
at  Foster  Street  and  another  at  Maple  and  also  on  Noyes 
Street  and  on  West  Church  Street  at  the  corner  of  Dodge 
Avenue.  These  are  destined  to  contribute  to  the  expansion 
of  the  city,  but  must  be  guided  in  their  growth.  In  these 
newly  developing  sub-centers  the  city  may  well  consider 
regulating  the  building  lines  for  shops,  height  of  buildings, 
and  even  the  type  of  shops.  We  are  here  confronted  with 
the  need  of  districting  and  zoning  laws,  as  suggested  in  a 
later  chapter. 


THIS  IS  FROM  A  PHOTOGRAPH  OF  THE  LAKE  FOREST  CITY  CENTER 
RECENTLY  REALIZED 

Howard  Shaw.  Architect 


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THE  greatest  physical  asset  of  Evanston  is  the  lake,  and 
in  any  plan  for  a  park  system  the  lake  must  be  a 
prime  factor.  The  lake  forms  our  longest  boundary, 
eighty  per  cent  of  our  population  lives  within  a  mile  of  it,  and 
a  mile  is  easy  walking  distance  for  almost  everybody. 

Park  space  along  the  lake  shore  is  cooler,  more  beautiful, 
and  in  every  way  more  inviting  than  park  space  anywhere 
else  would  be.  It  also  can  be  acquired  by  the  simple  ex- 
pedient of  filling  in  the  shallows  along  the  shore. 

Of  late  years  the  advantages  of  the  lake  shore  have  been 
neglected,  for  two  reasons,  first,  because  of  the  sewage  pol- 
lution of  the  lake  water  and  the  beach.  Now  the  sewage  is 
to  be  diverted  to  the  drainage  canal,  an  undertaking  which  is 
under  way,  and  it  should  be  noted  also  that  the  excavation 
necessary  for  carrying  on  this  work  of  sewage  diversion  will 
furnish  a  great  amount  of  material  for  the  projected  fill. 
The  question  of  fill  brings  up  the  second  reason  for  the  neglect 
of  the  lake  shore  development,  which  is  mainly  the  lack  of 
any  well  defined  and  established  plan.  The  park  land  on  the 
lake  front  was  gained  not  by  taxes  but  by  operating  a  free 
city  dump.  This  phase  of  park  development  is  ended.  A 
United  States  law  has  stopped  the  kind  of  dumping  which 
made  our  lake  front  park  land.  Evanston  has  to  face  a 
progressive  program  and  to  plan  adequately  to  keep  abreast 
of  the  times.  The  law  now  provides  that  all  fill  must  be  done 
behind  bulkheads.  The  city  should  now  come  forward  with 
a  well-established  plan.  We  concur  in  Mr.  Cone's  landscape 
plan  for  developing  the  park  situated  between  University 
Place  and  Greenwood  Boulevard,  and  joining  this  by  a  park 
strip  along  the  lake  shore  to  the  second  park  which  extends 
from  Hamilton  Street  to  the  present  Yacht  Club.  This  plan 
when  completed  will  make  one  continuous  lake  shore  park. 

We  urge  that  the  riparian  rights  which  do  not  already 


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Vlan     of    Evanston  [  45 

belong  either  to  the  city  or  to  the  University  be  acquired  by 
the  city  so  that  the  beach  for  the  entire  length  of  Evanston 
will  be  public  property.  During  the  necessary  interval  for 
developing  the  lake  front  park  sand  beaches  will  form  by 
means  of  the  $50,000.00  expenditure  for  piers.  Everybody 
expects  to  see  a  liberal  fringe  of  sand  beach  not  only  in  front 
of  this  lake  shore  park,  but  along  the  entire  frontage  of  the 
city.  This  will  serve  as  a  permanent  protection  for  the  park 
against  lake  storms  and  also  will  enable  everybody  to  enjoy 
the  seaside  features  of  a  natural  sand  beach. 

As  will  be  seen  from  the  lake  shore  map,  page  13  the 
plan  contemplates  an  outer  island  from  the  south  limits  of 
the  city  to  the  south  limit  of  the  University  (and  if  the  Univer- 
sity so  desires,  to  the  mouth  of  the  drainage  canal  at  Wilmette). 
On  this  island  we  advocate  a  boulevard  for  automobiles, 
which  has  been  described  under  the  heading  of  "Highways." 
On  the  island  also  should  be  broad  lawns,  casinos  and  bathing 
beaches.  Between  the  island  and  the  mainland  we  advocate 
a  lagoon  600  feet  wide  for  bathing  and  boating.  Bathing 
from  the  island  would  be  for  those  who  like  open  water  and 
bathing  in  the  lagoon  would  be  for  those  who  prefer  still 
water. 

HARBOR 

We  have  shown  a  harbor  on  our  plans  just  south  of  the 
University,  and  this  location  was  determined  on  after  con- 
sultation with  the  city  in  view  of  their  plans  for  the  immediate 
development  of  lake  front  park,  and  also  bearing  in  mind 
the  plans  of  the  Evanston  Yacht  Club.  During  the  summer 
of  1916  a  survey  was  made  by  the  war  department  for  a 
harbor  of  refuge  in  the  location  shown. 

BATHING  BEACHES 

The  past  summer  has  demonstrated  to  the  entire  popu- 
lation of  the  city  the  urgent  need  of  bathing  beaches.  Now 
that  the  lake  has  been,  one  may  say,  discovered,  at  the  end 


'Plan      of    Evanston  [47 

of  long  years  of  neglect,  people  will  go  into  it  in  hot  weather, 
whether  adequate  facilities  are  provided  or  not.  But  going 
in  haphazard,  here  or  there,  is  a  very  dangerous  business. 
It  is  absolutely  imperative  that  facilities  be  provided. 

We  have  shown  in  our  plan  three  beaches:  One  near  the 
south  limits  of  the  town,  one  as  central  as  possible,  near  the 
south  limit  of  the  University,  and  one  north  of  the  foot  of 
Lincoln  Street.  Mr.  Cone  has  already  drawn  plans  for  this 
last  location,  which,  if  accepted  by  the  city  council,  will  go 
into  service  for  the  summer  of  1917. 

We  urge  that  the  city  take  early  steps  to  start  work  on 
the  south  beach.  The  buildings  for  this  beach  may  be  built 
in  units,  as  the  patronage  requires  and  as  the  city  funds, 
raised  by  bond  issue,  or  otherwise,  permit.  The  site  is  al- 
ready owned  by  the  city.  As  a  first  step  toward  building 
this  beach,  we  urge  the  construction  of  a  pier  at  the  line  of 
our  south  limit,  which  shall  extend  several  hundred  feet  into 
the  lake,  with  a  hook  toward  the  north  at  the  end,  which  will 
cause  a  rapid  deposit  of  sand  and  enable  a  beach  to  be  placed 
here  at  the  earliest  possible  date.  A  hook  pier  such  as  we 
have  in  mind  was  built  recently  by  the  Commissioners  of 
Lincoln  Park  at  the  foot  of  Addison  Street,  and  the  sand 
beach  acquired  as  if  by  magic.  We  think  the  hook  feature 
of  this  pier  was  in  the  main  responsible  for  the  rapid  accretion 
of  sand  beach. 

On  the  subject  of  park  acreage,  we  have  in  Evanston  only 
1  acre  of  park  per  1,000  of  population,  while  the  average  for 
20  representative  cities,  as  determined  in  1903,  was  nearly 
5  acres  per  1,000.  On  this  point  the  Illinois  Legislature  has 
recognized  in  law  that  there  should  be  at  least  1  acre  to  every 
500  population.  In  Evanston  we  have  1  acre  of  park  to 
every  100  acres  of  city  area,  whereas  modern  authorities  on 
parks  and  playgrounds  claim  that  one  acre  in  20  is  the  right 
proportion. 


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'Plan     of     El  V  an  St  on  \  51 


A  DMIRABLE  and  necessary  as  they  are,  parks  and  beaches 
/-%  do  not  meet  all  of  the  requirements,  as  a  recreation 
scheme  for  a  city  like  Evanston.  This  scheme  should 
be  as  comprehensive  as  the  word  recreation  itself  implies.  It 
should  provide  everybody,  from  infancy  to  old  age,  with  the 
means  for  play.  Play  is  one  of  the  prime  necessities  of  life. 
Young  or  old,  everyone  plays,  just  as  everyone  eats,  and  if 
proper  means  of  play  are  denied,  others  will  be  found.  An 
enormous  proportion  of  the  crime  of  the  world  is  play  gone 
wrong.  The  means  of  play  must  be  attractive.  If  it  isn't  pleas- 
ant, it  isn't  play.  Therefore,  a  recreation  scheme  cannot  be 
imposed  in  a  relentless  and  militaristic  manner,  upon  an  un- 
willing public.  Public  likes  must  be  consulted,  public  require- 
ments accurately  met.  For  the  purpose  of  meeting  them,  the 
public  may  be  divided  into  four  groups,  each  with  a  different 
set  of  recreational  needs. 

Group  1.     Little  children  up  to  seven  years  old. 
Group  2.     Children  from  eight  to  fourteen  years. 
Group  3.     Young  people  of  from  fifteen  to  twenty- 
one  years. 
Group  4.     Adults. 

The  needs  of  Group  1,  the  little  children,  present  a  very 
difficult  problem  and,  for  a  reason  which  will  be  obvious,  we 
deal  with  it  separately,  at  the  end  of  this  chapter. 

The  needs  of  Group  2,  children  that  is,  of  the  primary 
grades  at  school,  can  adequately  be  met  by  the  careful  plan- 
ning and  treatment  of  school  grounds.  Practically  all  chil- 
dren of  this  age  go  to  school,  and  a  supervision  of  their  play, 
which  is  still  necessary  at  this  age,  can  more  easily  be  had  in 
the  school  yard  than  elsewhere.  The  yards  should  be  equipped 
with  suitable  apparatus,  playground,  ball-diamond,  and  so 
forth.    We  propose  that  more  land  should  be  acquired  around 


52   ]  Vlan      of     E  V  an  St  on 

the  school  buildings  marked  as  "community  centers"  in 
the  map,  for  the  proper  handling  of  this  group,  and  also,  as 
will  be  seen,  of  group  4. 

Group  3 — young  people  that  is,  of  from  fourteen  to 
twenty-one,  have,  of  course,  an  entirely  different  set  of  needs. 
This  is  the  age  of  team  play  at  its  highest  development. 
Their  games  and  sports  are  far  beyond  the  powers  of  younger 
children,  and  require  much  larger  areas  for  their  accommoda- 
tion. An  athletic  field  for  this  group  should  be  laid  out  to 
accommodate  baseball  in  the  summer,  football  in  the  fall, 
skating  in  the  winter,  track  athletics  in  the  spring,  tennis  for 
all  seasons  but  winter,  hockey  and  basket-ball. 

Evanston  is  already  well  on  the  way  toward  providing  for 
the  needs  of  this  group.  Five  fields,  as  above  described, 
would  meet,  amply,  the  city's  needs.  Three  of  these  are 
either  already  owned,  or  on  the  way  to  acquirement — Mason 
Park,  Foster  Field,  and  the  grounds  for  the  new  high  school. 
The  other  two,  as  will  be  noted,  are  proposed  to  be  placed  in 
the  southern  part  of  the  town.  The  playground  at  Mason 
Park  should  be  abandoned  as  such,  and  the  apparatus  moved 
to  the  playground  at  Dewey  School,  leaving  the  whole  park 
free  to  serve  as  an  athletic  field.  Foster  Field  should  be 
treated  in  the  same  manner.  Plans  are  under  way  for  a 
proper  treatment  of  the  new  high  school  grounds. 

The  treatment  of  all  these  athletic  fields  could  probably 
be  a  combination  of  landscape  gardening  and  athletic  ground 
engineering.  Indoor  facilities  for  this  group  should  be  sup- 
plied by  developing  well  located  school  property  marked  as 
"neighborhood  centers"  on  the  map.  Two  gymnasiums, 
swimming  pool,  shower  and  locker  rooms  should  be  in  each 
community  center  building. 

Group  4 — adults.  In  a  sense  this  is  a  very  much  larger 
problem  than  that  presented  by  the  needs  of  Groups  2  and  3, 
but  in  this  particular  case  the  proposals  already  made  go  a 
long  way  toward  solving  it.     The  development  of  the  lake 


MAP  SHOWING  SCHOOL  BUILDINGS.  COMMUNITY  CENTERS.  ATHLETIC  FIELDS  AND  PLAYGROUNDS. 

PRESENTIAND  PROPOSED 


54  ]  'PI  a  n      o  f     E  van  St  on 

shore,  with  its  outer  island  and  lagoon,  would  provide  admir- 
able boating  and  bathing  facilities  in  summer,  and  excellent 
skating  in  winter.  Part  of  the  space  in  the  parks  should  be 
devoted  to  the  construction  of  good  tennis  courts. 

A  very  important  item  in  the  provision  of  entertainment 
for  adults  is  the  development  of  neighborhood  public  build- 
ings, where  lectures,  concerts  and  dances  could  be  held. 
Already  we  have  neighborhood  public  buildings  which  could, 
and  should,  be  developed  to  serve  this  purpose;  namely,  the 
schools.  It  is  a  thousand  pities  that  these  large  and  very 
expensive  plants  should  be  used  only  five  hours  a  day  and 
five  days  a  week.  A  proper  development  and  extension  of 
their  facilities  to  serve  the  purposes  already  mentioned,  as 
well  as  for  gymnasiums  and  swimming  pools,  is  the  logical 
and  inevitable  next  step. 

There  remains  one  more  important  play  need  for  our 
youthful  and  adult  population  -  a  need  not  met  by  any  of  the 
foregoing  recommendations:  This  is  for  a  municipal  golf 
course.  The  committee  recommends  the  purchase  of  a  tract 
suitable  for  this  purpose,  near  the  western  limits  of  the  city. 
This  would  be  of  vast  benefit  to  the  health  and  happiness 
of  young  and  old.  There  are  a  large  number  of  people  who 
cannot  afford  to  join  a  private  golf  club  and  who  would  derive 
great  benefit  from  a  municipal  course.  At  present  there  are 
many  of  our  young  people  using  the  municipal  golf  links  of 
the  surrounding  towns,  thus  being  exposed  to  temptations  in 
going  and  coming  which  would  not  occur  if  Evanston  had 
golf  links  of  its  own.  Such  a  tract  of  land  might  also  include 
a  recreation  field  and  a  large  swimming  pool,  and  wading  pool 
for  the  children,  to  give  relief  from  the  summer's  heat  to 
those  who  could  not  readily  reach  the  lake. 

Last,  and  most  difficult  to  solve,  is  the  problem  of  pro- 
viding play  space  for  little  children.  Little  children,  for  very 
obvious  reasons,  cannot  venture  any  distance  from  the  home 
door-step.  They  get  into  trouble  easily,  are  imposed  upon 
and  bullied  by  older  children;  they  don't  well  know  how  to 


'\P/an      of     E  T  a  n  s  t  o  n  \   55 

play  if  left  to  themselves.  Street  car  lines  and  railroad 
viaducts  are  all  dangers  to  little  children  and  act  as  so  many 
barriers  to  playgrounds.  It  is  obvious  that  the  nearer  these 
play  spaces  for  little  children  can  be  to  the  home  door-yard, 
the  more  nearly  will  the  problem  of  that  particular  group  be 
solved.  Providing  public  play  spaces,  under  proper  super- 
vision, at  regular  intervals  throughout  the  city,  so  that  no 
small  child  would  have  to  go  more  than  a  few  hundred  yards 
from  his  home  to  find  one,  would  be  very  costly,  both  as  to 
initial  expense  and  subsequent  operation.  Some  children  are 
fortunate  enough  to  have  adequate  play  facilities  provided  at 
home,  and  parents,  or  nurses,  who  will  act  as  play  leaders. 
But  the  vast  majority  of  children  are  not  so  fortunate.  Yet 
it  is  generally  agreed  that  wholesome  play  is  essential  to 
childhood. 

Play  facilities  for  little  children  are  precisely  as  much  a 
problem  in  well-to-do  Evanston  as  they  are  in  the  crowded 
slum  district.  From  the  child's  point  of  view,  it  isn't  at  all  a 
question  of  open  yards,  green  grass,  and  fresh  air.  The 
areaway  of  a  dirty  tenement  house  on  Halsted  Street  pre- 
sents just  as  fascinating  a  play  space,  is  just  as  populous  with 
goblins  and  fairies,  and  all  the  wonderful  people  of  a  child's 
mind,  as  an  Evanston  lawn.  The  child  must  have  something 
to  play  with,  and  someone  to  show  him  how  to  play.  Chil- 
dren are  not  born  with  the  knowledge  of  games,  any  more  than 
they  are  born  with  the  knowledge  of  mathematics.  They 
acquire  play  knowledge  slowly.  And  the  beginning  of  this 
knowledge  is  the  beginning  of  their  knowledge  of  life.  They 
can  acquire  a  perverted  attitude  toward  life  by  having  play 
instinct  perverted  at  the  start,  or  can  acquire  a  fine  and 
wholesome  attitude  toward  life  by  having  play  instinct  turned 
in  the  right  direction. 

We  suggest  that  our  children  have  as  much  right  to  full 
consideration  as  the  children  of  the  slum  district.  With  our 
opportunities  for  providing  better  and  finer  things  for  the 
youngsters  of  Evanston,  we  should  lead  in  this  respect,  instead 


56  J  'P/an     of     E  V  an  st  on 

of  being  about  twenty  years  behind  the  poor  districts  of  our 
big  cities. 

We  suggest,  as  a  possible  solution  of  the  problem  of  play 
for  little  children,  the  following: 

An  interior  play  space  can  be  provided  in  the  center  of  any 
city  block.  This  could  be  accomplished  by  the  vacation  of 
the  alley  and  the  acquisition  of  a  small  piece  of  land  on  either 
side  of  it.  This  space  could  be  treated  in  such  a  way  as  to 
make  it  very  attractive  from  a  gardening  standpoint,  as  well 
as  a  very  attractive  playground. 

It  is  realized  that  such  a  scheme  could  not  be  applied 
wholesale.  It  would  have  to  depend  for  carrying  out  upon 
the  initiative  of  each  individual  block.  The  needs  of  hardly 
any  two  blocks  would  be  exactly  alike,  and  in  each  case  the 
problem  would  have  to  be  worked  out  by  the  residents  of  the 
block  in  a  way  that  met  their  local  needs. 

We  believe  this  scheme  to  be,  in  the  highest  degree, 
feasible.  Our  alleys  are  neither  beautiful  nor  necessary,  and 
by  a  proper  usage  of  the  street,  could  be  done  away  with, 
causing  very  little  loss  of  municipal  or  domestic  economy. 
The  back  yards  of  the  town,  taken  in  the  main  serve  very 
little  purpose  except  for  the  drying  of  the  Monday  wash.  A 
co-operative  scheme,  heartily  entered  into  by  the  residents  of 
a  block,  could,  at  very  small  expense,  and  with  very  little 
sacrifice,  provide  a  little  interior  park  that  could  be  both 
attractive  from  a  gardening  standpoint,  and  a  very  practical 
playground,  which  every  child  resident  in  the  block  could 
have  access  to  without  crossing  a  single  street. 

The  above  scheme  for  recreation  and  play,  together  with 
the  map  shown  on  page  53,  was  contributed  to  this  report 
by  Mr.  James  P.  Petrie,  and  is  concurred  in  by  Mr.  George 
C.  Cone,  the  Park  Superintendent. 


DISTRICTING    AND    ZONING    REGULATIONS 


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'plan     of    Evanston  I  59 


VI 

THE  establishment  of  districts  from  which  factories, 
stores,  or  apartment  buildings,  or  any  or  all  of  these, 
will  be  excluded  by  law  is  one  of  the  most  difficult 
problems  that  any  rapidly  growing  city  has  to  solve.  We 
say,  without  exaggeration,  that  we  believe  it  vital  to  the  well- 
being  of  Evanston  that  such  a  system  of  zoning  and  building 
regulations,  at  once  effective  and  equitable,  be  formulated 
and  enforced.  We  believe  that  any  citizen  willing  to  give 
the  matter  serious  thought  will  agree  that  this  is  so.  No  one, 
whether  he  be  the  owner  of  an  ancestral  mansion,  or  the 
possessor  of  a  one-year  lease  on  an  apartment,  wants  to  be 
forced  to  move  by  a  sudden  change  in  the  character  of  the 
neighborhood  in  which  he  has  established  his  home.  Every 
property  owner  would  like  to  be  protected  against  the  pos- 
sibility of  seeing  his  property  deteriorated  and  its  rent-earning 
possibilities  reduced  by  the  intrusion  into  its  neighborhood  of 
an  inferior  or  inappropriate  building.  All  would  approve,  in 
theory,  of  a  system  whose  operation  would  result  in  the 
stabilizing  and  conserving  of  real-estate  values. 

Evanston  is  primarily  a  city  of  individual  homes,  and  it 
cannot  afford  to  lose  its  character.  It  is  precisely  because  it 
is  a  city  of  individual  homes  that  people  are  attracted  to  come 
and  live  in  it.  In  order  to  command  a  vista  of  these  homes 
and  spacious  lawns  a  man  will  pay  a  greatly  increased  rent  for 
his  apartment. 

From  decade  to  decade,  of  course,  the  character  of  Evans- 
ton must  change,  just  as  it  has  changed  in  the  past.  And 
if  the  immutable  economic  law  of  supply  and  demand 
could  only  be  relied  upon  to  work  in  individual  cases  no 
system  of  building  restrictions  would  be  necessary.  Facto- 
ries, stores,  and  apartments  would  grow  up  where  they  were 
needed.  But  it  is  a  matter  of  experience  that  the  individual 
builder  does  not  invariably  consult  this  law,  and  his  mistakes 


60  J  Vlanofhivanston 

often  result  in  the  demoralization  of  whole  neighborhoods. 
It  has  been  the  experience  of  scores  of  cities  that  districting 
regulations  were  necessary,  and  a  number  of  them,  notably 
New  York,  Boston,  Baltimore,  Minneapolis,  St.  Paul,  Duluth, 
Milwaukee,  Seattle,  Washington,  St.  Louis,  and  Los  Angeles, 
have  adopted  them.  The  most  drastic  regulations  have  been 
established  in  the  last  named  city,  which,  by  ordinance, 
created  distinct  industrial  and  residential  districts,  and 
excluded  certain  kinds  of  business  from  the  latter,  even  though 
they  were  already  established  in  the  proscribed  district 
previous  to  the  passing  of  the  law.  The  California  Supreme 
Court  has  upheld  the  validity  of  these  ordinances. 

These  examples  seem  to  give  assurance  that  the  districting 
of  American  cities  is  no  longer  an  experiment,  and  it  seems 
clear  that  Evanston  should  not  lag  behind  in  dealing  with 
this  vital  question.  The  longer  the  attempt  to  deal  with  it 
is  postponed  the  more  difficult  and  the  less  effectual  any 
solution  will  be. 

The  kernel  of  the  difficulty  is,  of  course,  that  while  we 
might  unanimously  agree  that  the  restriction  upon  the 
building  of  industrial,  commercial,  or  apartment  buildings 
from  certain  districts  would  be  a  good  thing,  so  long  as  it  did 
not  abridge  our  individual  liberty  or  impair  the  value  of  our 
property,  it  must  be  admitted  that  we  would,  to  a  man,  look 
with  aversion  on  any  proposition  in  conflict  with  our  indi- 
vidual interests.  And  if,  in  addition  to  seeing  our  own 
interests  jeopardized,  we  had  reason  to  believe  that  someone 
else  was  profiting  at  our  expense,  we  would  resist  as  long  and 
as  violently  as  possible. 

It  will  require,  then,  skill,  careful  study,  and  the  most 
complete  and  unquestionable  disinterestedness  to  draw  up  a 
system  of  districting  regulations  which  would  be  acceptable, 
as  a  whole,  to  the  citizens  of  Evanston;  which  would  protect 
our  merchants  as  well  as  owners  of  residential  property ;  which 
would  stabilize  values  without  causing  dry-rot;  which  would 
allow  to  each  individual  the  greatest  measure  of  liberty  con- 


'Plan     of    Evanston  [  61 

sistent  with  his  not  invading  the  Uberties  of  anyone  else. 
The  difficulty  of  the  problem  is  matched  only  by  its  impor- 
tance. 

The  Committee  recommends  that  the  City  Council 
appoint  a  commission  of  persons  both  able  and  disinterested, 
to  study  the  experience  of  other  cities.  And  on  the  basis 
of  this  study  secure  enabling  legislation. 


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^lanofEvanston  [63 

VII 
THE  TREES  OF  EVANSTON 
by  J.  Seymour  Currey 

THE  land  now  occupied  by  the  city  of  Evanston  was 
originally  covered  by  a  forest  consisting  mainly  of  oak 
trees,  though  there  were  certain  tracts  of  low  land  lying 
between  the  ridges  and  sandy  spaces  where  no  trees  grew. 
When  Evanston  passed  from  the  condition  of  an  open  country 
district  and  was  organized  as  a  village  in  1854,  almost  the 
first  step  taken  in  improvement  was  a  provision  for  lines  of 
shade  trees  along  the  streets  that  as  yet  existed  only  on  paper. 
It  was  well  said  by  the  superintendent  of  parks  in  Boston  in  a 
public  address  some  years  ago,  that  "the  planting  of  street 
trees  should  be  classed  as  one  of  the  most  important  of  civic 
duties,"  and  he  might  have  added  "one  of  the  first."  In 
this  respect  the  wisdom  of  our  early  citizens  was  well  exem- 
plified. 

It  was  realized  by  the  residents  that  the  forest  trees 
would  gradually  disappear  to  a  large  extent  in  the  process  of 
opening  streets  and  clearing  the  ground  for  buildings,  and 
that  in  any  event  the  old  trees  were  not  desirable  as  shade 
trees  and  were  not  in  positions  to  conform  to  the  plans  of 
regularity  required.  The  Northwestern  University  had  ac- 
quired a  tract  of  380  acres  of  land  the  previous  year  (1853), 
and  had  laid  out  the  new  village  upon  this  tract  on  the  plan 
with  which  we  are  all  familiar.  The  predominant  influence 
in  public  affairs  at  that  time  was  centered  in  the  board  of 
trustees  of  the  University,  and  the  work  of  improvement  was 
largely  in  their  hands. 

An  extensive  tract  of  woodland,  consisting  mostly  of 
elms  and  maples,  was  situated  about  two  miles  west  of  the 
village,  some  vestiges  of  which  still  remain  and  are  known  by 
the  old  name  of  "The  Big  Woods."  These  "Big  Woods"  are 
now  to  be  purchased  by  the  Forest  Preserve  Commissioners 


64 


'P/an     of    Evanston 


and  will  thus  be  kept  for  us  and  our  children  forever.  Large 
numbers  of  saplings  were  taken  up  in  these  woods  and  trans- 
planted along  the  borders  of  streets  looking  very  weak  and 
insignificant  among  the  older  forest  trees  promiscuously  scat- 
tered about.  This  work  went  on  for  years  under  direction 
largely  of  Dr.  Philo  Judson,  the  energetic  business  agent  of 
the  University.  Just  as  foreseen,  nearly  all  the  old  trees  have 
passed  away  and  the  elm  and  maple  saplings  have  grown  to 


be  splendid  avenues  of  shade  trees,  which  give  to  Evanston 
of  the  present  day  the  well  deserved  distinction  of  being  the 
best  shaded  city  in  the  West.  The  double  rows  of  "imme- 
morial elms"  standing  along  the  borders  of  Judson  and  Forest 
avenues  are  specimens  of  what  has  been  accomplished  by  this 
early  planting,  their  towering  branches  arching  over  the  streets 
suggesting  the  effects  produced  by  the  pointed  arches  in  old 
Gothic  cathedrals  of  Europe.  There  are  many  miles  of  streets 
in  Evanston  along  the  borders  of  which  stand  serried  rows  of 


Q-^/an      of     Evanston  r  55 

shade  trees,  some  of  them  dating  back  more  than  sixty  years. 
Evanston  has  indeed  been  fortunate  in  possessing  a  class  of 
citizens  who  had  a  vision  of  the  future  in  tree  culture  and 
who  clearly  saw  that  many  years  were  required  before  trees 
could  attain  to  their  proper  development.  Tree  planters  do 
not  see  the  full  fruition  of  their  work  in  their  own  lifetime  as  a 
rule.  Now  when  these  men  have  all  passed  away  we  of  the 
present  day  rejoice  in  the  complete  results  of  their  labors. 

In  view  of  the  immense  benefits  conferred  on  the  people 
of  this  generation  through  the  far-sighted  wisdom  of  the  men 
of  the  past,  we  should  regard  our  trees  as  a  priceless  heritage, 
and  their  conservation  as  of  the  utmost  importance.  If  one 
thing  above  all  others  symbolizes  the  domestic  charm  of 
Evanston  it  is  the  trees  which  are  its  outstanding  natural 
feature. 

Very  little  credit  is  due  to  us  of  the  present  generation ; 
we  reap  whereof  we  have  not  sown.  Not  only  this,  but  we 
are  squandering  our  patrimony.  Whenever  a  noble  tree  falls 
away,  it  leaves  an  ugly  gap  in  an  otherwise  fine  row,  and 
unless  some  public  spirited  citizen  replaces  this  tree,  seldom 
is  anything  done. 

It  should  be  possible  for  the  City  to  acquire  a  modest 
farm  of  a  few  acres,  reasonably  near  to  Evanston,  to  use  as  a 
nursery.  There  we  could  grow  at  a  small  expense  our  own 
trees  and  shrubs.  Whenever  one  of  the  old  trees  should  go, 
we  would  be  ready  to  replace  it  with  a  vigorous  young  tree 
which  some  day  could  take  its  place  among  those  old  trees  of 
which  we  are  so  justly  proud. 

New  sections  are  added  to  the  City  of  Evanston  from 
time  to  time,  and  we  should  lay  out  the  trees  in  new  sub- 
divisions with  the  same  foresight  as  the  provisions  are  made 
for  sewers  and  water.  Trees  planted  now  would  yield  hand- 
some dividends  in  years  to  come. 

We  have  a  great  many  small  and  some  large  parks,  both 
owned  now  and  hereafter  to  be  acquired,  which  are  more  or 
less  undeveloped  but  are  to  be  soon  developed  by  carefully 


66]  'P)an      of     Evanston 

prepared  landscape  plans  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Cone. 
For  these  parks  the  City  will  need  a  great  deal  of  shrubbery 
and  many  trees.  The  City  could  make  a  saving  on  the  pur- 
chase of  these  if  v/e  owned  our  own  nursery. 

This  Committee  would  like  to  see  a  tree  expert  appointed 
by  the  City  Park  Superintendent  whose  principal  duty  would 
be  to  look  after  trees  and  shrubs.  He  should  have  super- 
vision of  private  as  well  as  public  horticulture  in  the  same 
way  that  the  public  health  commissioner  now  has  super- 
vision over  general  health.  It  is  important  to  prevent  the 
spreading  of  disease  among  trees  just  as  it  is  among  people. 
When  a  man's  trees  are  sick  he  should  be  compelled  to  take 
proper  precaution  for  their  care.  Nobody  should  be  per- 
mitted to  cut  down  a  tree  in  his  parkway,  or  in  his  own  yard 
for  that  matter,  without  a  permit  from  the  City  Tree  Warden. 
Concord,  Mass.,  has  such  a  tree  warden,  and  drastic  legis- 
lation has  been  in  force  for  centuries  in  the  old  countries  of 
Europe. 

How  many  times  have  you  watched  some  ignorant  con- 
tractor strip  an  entire  lot  of  fine  old  trees  simply  to  build 
an  apartment  house  on  say  one-third  or  one-half  of  the  lot. 
When  the  new  building  is  completed,  the  owner  of  this  lot,  at 
a  great  expense,  plants  a  few  small  trees,  which  may  take 
forty  years  to  reach  the  splendor  and  dignity  of  some  of  the 
old  trees  he  might  have  saved. 

What  is  more  charming  than  the  veranda  or  porch  built 
around  some  stately  tree,  yet  how  seldom  do  you  see  it  done? 

You  may  say  to  yourself  that  the  City  has  no  right  to 
supervise  the  trees  on  a  man's  property;  he  can  do  what  he 
likes  with  his  own.  This  we  think  is  not  right.  If  one  man 
wantonly  destroys  the  trees  on  his  ground,  he  is  doing  an  in- 
jury to  his  neighbor  and  to  the  entire  community. 

We  feel  that  it  is  entirely  within  the  province  of  the  City 
to  supervise  a  man's  trees  just  as  much  as  it  is  to  look  after 
the  health  of  the  same  man's  neighbors  by  making  him  com- 
ply with  the  City  sanitary  requirements. 


MISCELLANEOUS 


AN  ALLEY  ENTRANCE 


Designed  by  Dr.  A.  W.  Hebert 


'PlanofEvanston  [69 


VIII 
RAILROAD  RIGHTS-OF-WAY 

THE  Northwest  Park  district  has  shown  us  what  can  be 
done  by  co-operating  with  the  Northwestern  Railway- 
to  beautify  the  railroad  right-of-way.     This  should  be 
continued    so    that    all    railroad    rights-of-way    in    Evanston 
would  be  softened  by  vines  and  flowers  and  changed  from 
eyesores  to  things  of  beauty. 

FOUNTAINS 

Evanston  is  bountifully  supplied  with  water,  and  our 
parks  and  public  squares  should  be  amply  provided  with 
flowing  fountains,  as  the  squares  of  Detroit  and  other  cities. 
Fountains  in  themselves  are  a  pleasure  to  the  eye  and  a  good 
influence  in  the  City. 

ALLEY  ENTRANCES 

Much  good  could  be  done  by  putting  vine  covered  arch- 
ways with  pendant  electric  lights  at  our  alley  entrances  to 
conceal  the  ugliness  beyond  and  light  up  dangerous  places  at 
night.  A  good  example  of  this  is  the  alley  entrance  on  the 
north  side  of  Clark  Street  between  Chicago  and  Hinman 
Avenues. 

BRIDLE-PATHS 

We  urge  that  a  bridle-path  be  built  in  Lake  Front  park  on 
the  east  side  of  Sheridan  Road,  so  that  equestrians  will  not 
have  to  contend  with  the  menace  of  intersecting  streets. 
Provision  should  be  made  to  carry  the  bridle-path  west, 
possibly  by  passing  through  the  University  grounds  and  out 
Harrison  Street,  so  that  access  could  be  had  to  the  Forest 
Preserve  lands  which  will  extend  along  the  north  branch  of 
the  Chicago  River  and  be  developed  as  parks  for  the  people 
of  Cook  County.  Also  a  bridle-path  should  be  built  along 
the  east  side  of  and  adjacent  to  the  drainage  canal. 


SUGGESTIONS   FOR  REALIZING  THE  PLAN  OF 

EVANSTON 


72J  VI  a  n      o  f     E  !•  a  n  s  t  o  n 


IX 

IT  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  it  is  not  proposed  to  carry 
out  all  the  suggestions  made  in  this  report  at  one  time  or 

even  in  the  immediate  future.  The  City  Plan  is  intended 
as  a  guide  for  gradual  development  over  an  extended  period  of 
years. 

We  urge  as  far  as  possible  that  the  development  of  the 
plan  rest  in  the  hands  of  the  City  Council.  Let  us  consider 
what  the  Council  is  able  to  do  toward  developing  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  plan. 

The  Constitution  of  Illinois  requires  provision  to  be  made 
for  paying  all  municipal  bonds  within  twenty  years  and 
limits  the  amount  of  indebtedness  which  any  municipal  body 
may  incur  to  five  per  cent  of  the  assessed  value  of  taxable 
property  therein.  Extensive  park  development  in  Evanston 
if  accomplished  quickly  must  be  accomplished  by  bond  is- 
sues. It  is  perhaps  not  good  policy  to  try  to  pay  by  a  single 
tax  levy  for  any  large  improvement  that  could  be  financed 
by  bonds  and  the  burden  distributed  over  a  period  of  twenty 
years.  The  benefits  derived  from  park  improvements  will 
be  shared  in  by  the  children  and  grandchildren  of  the  present 
generation.  It  is  right,  therefore,  that  they  should  share  in 
the  payment  of  these  benefits.  Property  purchased  now  will 
so  greatly  enchance  in  value  during  the  next  twenty  years 
that  the  prices  we  pay  at  the  present  time  will  seem  ridicu- 
lously small  by  comparison  at  the  time  these  bonds  mature. 
The  limitations  encountered  under  the  State  Constitution 
prevent  Evanston  from  extensive  bonding  for  park  purposes, 
as  the  City  for  other  purposes  is  already  bonded  practically 
up  to  its  constitutional  limit.  Also  the  limitations  of  the  Juul 
law  tend  to  reduce  the  revenue  that  the  City  is  able  to  raise 
for  park  purposes. 

The  voters  of  Evanston  on  the  recent  election  date, 
November  7th,  1916,  authorized  the  City  Council  to  levy  an 


Vlan     of    E  vanston  [  73 

annual  tax  of  three  mills  for  park  purposes.  This  will  give 
a  revenue  of  approximately  $30,000.00,  but  this  will  not  go 
very  far  except  to  maintain  and  improve  present  parks  and 
will  not  admit  of  the  acquiring  of  much  new  park  area  at  any 
one  time.  It  may  be  possible  that  in  a  few  years  there  will 
be  an  amendment  to  the  State  Constitution,  which  will  give 
the  City  of  Evanston  more  bonding  and  taxing  powers  for 
park  purposes. 

The  present  management  of  the  parks  in  Evanston,  except 
those  controlled  by  Park  Boards,  is  under  the  Park  Com- 
mittee of  the  City  Council,  and  the  parks  are  very  ably  main- 
tained by  them.  The  appointment  of  Mr.  Geo.  C.  Cone,  a 
trained  landscape  architect,  as  Park  Superintendent,  insures 
the  City  intelligent  park  development,  and  satisfactory  re- 
sults if  his  plans  are  adhered  to. 

A  possible  way  to  get  a  quicker  start  toward  the  accom- 
plishment of  the  broader  aspects  of  the  City  Plan  would  be  to 
have  the  present  existing  two  park  boards  merged  into  one, 
and  the  districts  extended  to  include  all  of  Evanston.  It 
has  even  been  suggested  that  the  Wilmette  Park  District 
might  also  be  merged  with  an  all  Evanston  District  and  that 
the  new  district  might  include  some  additional  territory  to 
the  west  of  Evanston. 

Such  a  Park  Board  organized  under  the  Legislative  act 
of  June  24th,  1895,  could  acquire  land  for  parks  or  boulevards 
by  purchase  or  condemnation,  and  the  Board  of  Park  Com- 
missioners could  accept  from  the  City  of  Evanston  the  control 
of  any  park  or  boulevard  therein.  Bonds  could  be  issued 
up  to  three  per  cent  of  the  assessed  valuation  of  property  in 
the  district,  and,  in  addition  to  taxes  for  the  payment  thereof, 
a  general  tax  of  four  mills  on  the  dollar  could  be  collected! 
Special  assessments  for  local  improvements  could  be  levied. 
Districts  bordering  upon  navigable  bodies  of  water  are  em- 
powered to  reclaim  submerged  lands,  and  the  title  of  the 
state  is  granted  for  that  purpose  to  the  park  district  to  which 
such    submerged    land    is    adjacent.     The    park    authorities 


74]  'Plan      of     Evanston 

could  construct  islands  or  driveways  beyond  the  present 
water  line.  They  would  be  required  to  recompense  the 
owners  of  the  shore  for  any  loss  or  diminution  of  their  riparian 
rights;  but  the  benefits  to  the  shore  lands  would  doubtless  in 
many,  if  not  most,  instances  more  than  offset  the  cost  of  the 
property  and  property  rights  that  would  be  taken  or  damaged 
for  the  improvement. 

By  the  Act  of  March  4,  1907,  even  more  extensive  powers 
are  conferred  upon  the  commissioners  of  every  public  park 
district  appointed  and  selected  pursuant  to  any  act  which 
has  been  or  may  be  submitted  to  the  legal  voters  of  such  park 
district  and  by  them  adopted.  Full  power  is  given  to  pur- 
chase or  condemn  any  land  for  the  establishment  of  new 
parks  or  the  extension  of  old  parks,  and,  by  vote  of  the  people, 
to  issue  bonds  to  any  desired  amount  within  the  constitu- 
tional limit.  This  act  materially  increases  the  powers  of  the 
boards  to  which  it  applies. 

The  present  assessed  valuation  of  the  City  of  Evanston 
is  approximately  $13,000,000.00,  and  if  a  city  wide  park 
district  were  formed  it  could  issue  bonds  to  the  limit  of  3'  [, 
of  this  amount,  or  approximately  $390,000.00.  It  could  levy 
an  annual  tax  for  the  bond  sinking  fund  and  interest  and  in 
addition  thereto  a  four  mill  tax  for  maintenance  and  upkeep 
of  the  park  district  amounting  to  approximately  $52,000.00, 
subject  to  some  slight  paring  due  to  the  Juul  law.  This  is 
in  contrast  to  $30,000.00  for  park  purposes  now  raised  by  the 
city  acting  alone.  The  city  tax  of  course  would  not  be  levied 
if  the  park  district  were  formed  and  all  the  present  city  parks 
turned  over  to  this  board. 

We  have  had  a  preliminary  estimate  made  by  an  engineer 
of  the  cost  of  the  proposed  lake  front  island,  shown  on  our 
map,  page  (13).  This  island  to  start  at  the  south  limit  line 
of  Evanston  extended,  and  to  continue  north  as  far  as  the 
proposed  harbor  at  the  foot  of  University  Place.  This 
estimate  is  based  on  construction  similar  to  the  development 
work  of  the  Commissioners  of  Lincoln  Park,  Chicago.     The 


'P/an      of    Evanston  [  75 

estimated  cost  includes  breakwaters,  revetments,  fill,  leveling, 
black  dirt  and  seeding,  and  amounts  to  approximately 
$1,690,000.00,  and  to  this  must  be  added  the  cost  of  a  40  foot 
roadway  and  inexpensive  pontoon  bridges  in  locations  as 
shown  on  plan,  amounting  to  an  additional  $110,000.00. 
Thus  you  see  the  island  scheme  is  something  for  the  future — 
to  be  considered  when  the  city  grows  larger  or  perhaps  in 
co-operation  with  some  such  body  as  the  Lincoln  Park  Com- 
missioners. 

Through  the  courtesy  of  a  gentleman  well  informed  on 
real  estate  values  in  Evanston,  we  have  received  figures  on 
the  values  of  property  affected  by  our  City  Center  plan  that 
we  consider  reliable.  The  block  bounded  by  Davis  Street, 
Sherman  Avenue,  Church  Street  and  Orrington  Avenue  is  a 
very  hard  piece  of  property  to  put  a  value  on  for  the  reason 
that  its  value  depends  largely  on  the  use  made  of  it  as  it  could 
be  improved  with  so  many  different  frontages;  for  instance, 
the  Davis  Street  frontage  running  back  one  hundred  feet  on 
both  Sherman  Avenue  and  Orrington  Avenue,  to  our  mind, 
would  be  worth  about  one-quarter  of  the  entire  block.  The 
property  immediately  adjoining  this  property  on  the  north 
really  should  be  considered  as  one  frontage  as  it  would  only 
have  an  average  depth  of  90  to  100  feet,  and  if  split  into 
two  frontages  would  only  have  about  45  feet  in  depth.  The 
property  now  used  as  a  park  would  be  considered  by  some  as 
Church  Street  frontage  and  by  others  Orrington  Avenue  and 
Sherman  Avenue  frontages  and  the  values,  of  course,  would 
change  accordingly.  In  order  to  get  at  a  reasonable  ground 
value  it  has  been  figured  in  several  ways  and  after  doing  so, 
we  feel  justified  in  saying  that  the  ground  value  of  this  block 
would  be  approximately  $125,000.00. 

We  understand  that  the  ground  contained  in  the  above 
mentioned  triangle  all  belongs  to  the  Northwestern  University. 
The  interests  of  the  University  and  those  of  the  city  at  this 
point  are  in  a  measure  indentical.  It  is  just  as  important 
for    this    great    educational    institution    to  have    a  dignified 


76  J  'Plan      of     Evanston 

entrance  to  Evanston  as  it  is  to  the  residents  of  the  city.  We 
therefore  hope  that  the  University  will  find  a  way  to  enable 
them  to  dedicate  not  only  "Commercial  Park"  but  the 
balance  of  the  property  in  the  triangle  as  well  for  the  benefit 
of  the  entire  community.  We  understand  several  long  term 
leases  exist.  These  could  either  be  acquired  or  allowed  to 
run  to  maturity.  If  the  University  would  go  on  record  now 
that  eventually  the  entire  triangle  would  be  emancipated, 
they  would  confer  an  everlasting  benefit  on  the  entire  city. 

The  property  located  between  Benson  Avenue,  Sherman 
Avenue  and  the  alleys  in  the  rear  of  the  City  Hall  and  Post 
Office  Place  is  also  very  hard  to  put  a  proper  value  on,  as 
the  lots  fronting  Sherman  Avenue  and  Benson  Avenue  are  one 
hundred  sixty-five  feet  deep,  and  while  ordinarily  the  depth 
of  a  lot  over  100  feet  does  not  add  much  to  its  value,  as 
business  property,  in  this  case,  however,  the  rear  end  of  both 
properties  are  very  valuable  property  as  they  are  surrounded 
by  good  paved  alleys  or  streets  on  both  sides  and  rear,  which 
makes  the  rear  of  the  lots  good  frontages  for  some  purposes. 
In  figuring  the  value  of  this  property  we  have,  therefore,  had 
to  take  that  into  consideration  and  have  arrived  at  an  approxi- 
mate value  for  the  ground  alone  of  about  $60,000.00.  To  the 
above  should  be  added  a  like  amount  for  the  buildings,  which 
would  not  exceed  in  value  $60,000.00,  making  a  total  of 
$120,000.00.  The  immediate  acquiring  of  this  property  we  con- 
sider as  the  most  important  step  to  be  taken  toward  the  real- 
ization of  our  City  Center  plan.  If  this  is  once  accomplished 
the  rest  of  the  plan  will  of  necessity  follow.  If  our  public 
spirited  citizens  approve  of  this  plan  and  would  put  their 
shoulders  to  the  wheel  and  accomplish  this  one  feature  alone, 
such  a  suction  would  be  created  that  the  other  parts  of  the 
City  Center  plan  would  quickly  follow. 

In  order  to  get  at  an  approximate  value  of  the  property 
known  as  the  Haven  School  property,  we  understand  that 
the  School  Board  have  refused  $80,000.00  for  the  property  and 
we  have  been  told  that  nothing  less  would  be  considered  than 


'Plan      oi    Eivanston  I   77 

$100,000.00.  This  property  on  our  plan  has  been  selected  as 
the  site  for  a  municipal  auditorium.  There  is  a  state  law 
which  provides  that  cities  may  issue  a  separate  bond  issue 
provide  funds  for  municipal  auditoriums.  We  believe  Evans- 
ton  could  have  this  auditorium  at  once  if  such  a  move  were 
felt  to  be  expedient. 

The  property  we  reserve  on  our  City  Center  plan  for  an 
Art  Museum  is  on  the  north  side  of  Church  Street  between 
Sherman  and  Orrington  Avenues.  An  Art  Museum  may 
some  day  in  the  near  future  be  given  Evanston  through  the 
generosity  of  some  group  of  public  spirited  citizens  in  the 
same  way  our  Library  was  given,  or  it  may  come  as  the  gift 
of  some  one  man;  but  we  feel  that  it  must  come  and  when  it 
does  here  is  the  ideal  spot  for  its  location.  We  can  only 
guess  at  the  value  of  the  property  indicated  for  the  Art 
Museum  but  do  not  think  it  would  be  in  excess  of  $100,000.00. 

If  a  city  wide  park  board  were  formed  in  the  near  future, 
its  financial  resources  would  enable  it  to  commence  at  an 
early  date  on  the  following  suggestions: 

1.  Develop  our  present  and  proposed  small  parks  for 
recreation  and  play  as  outlined  in  this  report,  in  co-operation 
with  the  School  Boards. 

2.  Build  and  maintain  adequate  bathing  beaches. 

3.  Start  the  development  work  of  the  City  Center. 

4.  Extend  and  put  Sheridan  Road  in  shape  as  outlined 
in  the  chapter  on  Highways. 

5.  Start  work  on  the  proposed  Canal  Boulevard  by  co- 
operating with  the  Sanitary  District  Trustees. 

6.  Acquire  a  large  tract  of  land  west  of  Evanston  for 
the  Municipal  Golf  Links  and  the  recreation  field. 

7.  It  might  co-operate  in  the  building  of  the  harbor. 

8.  It  would  be  useful  in  many  ways  to  develop  sug- 
gestions outlined  in  this  report. 


78    I  'Plan      of     Evanston 


WHEN  Evanston  became  a  village  in  1854  its  popu- 
lation was  probably  between  500  and  600,  but 
there  are  no  reliable  figures  which  can  be  precisely 
quoted.  In  a  volume  of  statistics  we  find  it  stated  that  the 
population  of  1860  was  831.  At  the  breaking  out  of  the  Civil 
War  in  1861  the  population  was  considered  to  be  about  1,000. 
In  1870  the  census  gave  the  village  a  population  of  3,062,  show- 
ing a  rapid  growth  in  that  decade.  After  the  Chicago  fire  of 
1871  the  population  increased  rapidly,  but  we  have  no  figures 
available  until  the  year  1890,  when  the  census  showed  that 
the  two  villages  of  Evanston  and  South  Evanston  had  a 
combined  population  of  15,967.  These  two  villages  were 
merged  two  years  later  in  the  city  government  of  Evanston 
which  was  incorporated  March  29,  1892.  In  1900  the  pop- 
ulation was  19,259;  and  in  1910,  the  date  of  the  last  census, 
it  was  24,978.  Various  annexations  which  have  taken  place 
from  time  to  time  would  affect  the  ratio  of  increase  in  the  above 
figures  and  any  attempt  to  compute  it  is  more  or  less  guess 
work.  The  population  at  the  present  time  is  generally  con- 
ceded to  be  in  excess  of  30,000.  From  the  above  there  is  an 
apparent  increase  from  1900  to  1910  of  roughly  25%.  From 
1910  to  1917  the  ratio  shows  again  an  increase  of  25%.  If 
we  believe  that  the  same  relative  increase  will  take  place  in 
the  next  decade  from  1917  to  1927,  the  population  in  1927 
will  have  grown  to  37,500,  and  increasing  at  the  same  rate  in 
the  year  of  1937  Evanston  will  be  a  city  of  from  47,000  to 
50,000.  If  this  increase  of  population  takes  place  it  will 
carry  with  it  a  corresponding  increase  of  taxable  property. 

The  assessed  value  of  property  in  Evanston  now  being 
in  excess  of  $12,000,000.00,  by  the  year  1937  we  prophesy  it 
will  be  increased  by  two-thirds,  or  at  that  time  will  be  in 
excess  of  $20,000,000.00. 


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A  BRIDLE  PATH  SUGGESTION 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY.  LOS  ANGELES 

Architecture  &  Urban  Planning  Library,  825-2747. 

This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


KH  fSm  Mpm 


M0V2r1PP7 

JAN  05  1988 

REC'D  AUPU 


PSD  2339  9/77 


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D    000  570  988     6 


